Download Vernacular Literature in China

“Vernacular
Literature in
China”
1650-1800
Reference Vol. D
What is Vernacular Chinese?
• Written Chinese is divided roughly into “literary”
or classical” Chinese and “vernacular Chinese.
• Many assume that “classical”Chinese represents
something like the spoken language of the first
three centuries BC.
• However, as time went on and spoken Chinese
evolved, “classical” Chinese remained the
standard of writing—and in most cases was
probably aurally comprehensible (as the King
James Bible is to us).
Very Different Qualities
• From the 13th century on, stories could be written
in either classical or vernacular Chinese.
• Classical stories (usually called tales”in some
imperfect analogy to the distinction between tales
and short stories in the West) were terse and
placed a particular emphasis on phrasing.
• Vernacular stories, imitating the manner of oral
storytelling, delighted in detailed description,
lively dialogue and speculation on the motivation
of characters.
• In a classical story a small gesture would be
pregnant with meaning, while in a vernacular story
the narrator often explains such a gesture fully.
Chapter Overview
1. When the Mongol (Yüan) armies overran northern
China and the southern Sung dynasties, they
established themselves as a dynasty, abolishing
governmental principles derived from Confucian
teachings.
2. Often building on works of classical literature,
vernacular literature (dealing with sex, violence,
satire, and humor) became known for its ability to
elaborate creatively on plots of earlier works by
filling in details or perhaps even by articulating
what had been omitted.
3. Under the Ch'ing Dynasty, and especially during
the period known as the "literary inquisition,"
classical Chinese writing suffered a devastating
blow.
4. China's autonomy and cultural self-confidence
were decimated in the eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries, when European colonial
powers began to exert control over China's
economy.
Main Points Developed
A Political Overhaul
• When the Mongol (Yüan) armies overran northern
China and the southern Sung dynasties, they
established themselves as a dynasty, abolishing
governmental principles derived from Confucian
teachings.
• In effect, this meant that although classical
literature retained importance in intellectual
circles, it gradually became marginalized in
spheres of public and private life.
In the place of formal Chinese
literature. . .,.
• Vernacular literature (plays, verse, romance, and
prose fiction) began to play an important role in
urban areas.
• Emphasized especially sex, violence, satire, and
humor.
• These Vernacular works, while often building on
the tradition of classical literature, became known
for their ability to elaborate creatively on plots of
earlier works by filling in details or perhaps even
by articulating what had been omitted
• For instance, Wu Ch'eng-en's extensive
novel Monkey, or "Journey to the West," is
historically based on the Buddhist monk
Tripitaka's pilgrimage from China to India.
• Whereas neo-Confucianism emphasized
rediscovering the Confucian classics as a
way to build a system of private and social
ethics that could determine all aspects of
life, vernacular literature focused on liberty,
violent energy, and passion.
• In effect, it gave a voice to aspects of life
that neo-Confucianism tried to repress.
• K'ung Shang-jen's Peach Blossom Fan is a
play derived from the ch'uan-ch'i tradition,
which consists of long plays that are
performed over a period of several days.
• Cao Xueqin's novel the Story of the Stone,
better known as the Dream of the Red
Chamber, is a long, unfinished femalecentered novel and has been viewed as an
embodiment of Chinese national identity.
The Chinese Novel
• The novel in China was essentially a
vernacular form.
• Later there were attempts at novels in
classical Chinese in the tradition but
with mixed success.
• First developed in story telling cycles.
• The breakup of the Han Dynasty
emerged in the novel The Romance of
the Three Kingdoms
• Another cycle deals with the heroic
bandits of the Sung Dynasty became
Men of the Marsh (Pear Buck’s version
is All Men Are Brothers.
Wu Cheng'en
or Wu Ch'eng-en
• He received a traditional Confucian education and
became known for his clever poetry and prose
composition in the classical style.
• Interested in bizarre stories, he used oral and
written folktales as the basis of the novel Xiyouji
(Journey to the West, also partially translated as
Monkey), published anonymously in 1592.
• Like all novels of its time, Hsi-yu chi was written
in the vernacular, as opposed to the officially
accepted classical style, and therefore had to be
published anonymously to protect the author's
reputation. As a result, the identity of the novelist
was long unknown outside of Wu's native district.
Monkey
• A Folk novel—evolved over time. Wu
Ch’eng was the last handler of the story
(like Thomas Malory and his Mort de
Arthur.)
• As mentioned, novels were consider a
low-status activity and before the
eighteenth century known literary men
were often unwilling to have their
names associated with a novel—so
instead they usually wrote under a
pseudonym.
• Economic success led to plagiarism
with reduced or expanded versions of a
work.
Journey to the West
• It is one of the Four Great
Classical Novels of Chinese
literature.
– Romance of the Three
Kingdoms (三國演義) (14th
century)
– Water Margin (水滸傳) (also
known as Outlaws of the
Marsh) (mid-13th/14th/15th
century?),
– Journey to the West (西遊記)
(16th century),
– Dream of the Red Chamber (
紅樓夢) (also known as The
Story of the Stone) (first
block print 1792)
• Originally published anonymously in the 1590s during
the Ming Dynasty, and even though no direct evidence
of its authorship survives, it is traditionally ascribed to
the scholar Wú Chéng'ēn.
• The novel is a fictionalized account of the legends
around the Buddhist monk Xuánzàng's or Tripitaka's
pilgrimage to India during the Táng dynasty in order to
obtain Buddhist religious texts called sutras. The
Bodhisattva Guānyīn, on instruction from the Buddha,
gives this task to the monk and his three protectors in
the form of disciples — namely Sūn Wùkōng, Zhū
Bājiè and Shā Wùjìng — together with a dragon prince
who acts as Xuánzàng's horse mount.
• These four characters have agreed to help Xuánzàng as
an atonement for past sins. The pilgrims undergo
eighty-one calamities of all sorts before bringing the
sutras back to the Chinese capital of Cháng'ān
(present-day Xī'ān). (From Wikipedia)
• Some scholars propose that the book is a work of
satire on the effeteness of the Chinese government
at the time. Journey to the West has a strong
background in Chinese folk religion, Chinese
mythology and value systems. In particular, the
pantheon of Taoist and Buddhist deities is still
reflective of many Chinese folk religious beliefs
today.
• Part of the novel's enduring popularity comes from
the fact that it works on multiple levels: it is a
first-rate adventure story, a dispenser of spiritual
insight, and an extended allegory in which the
group of pilgrims journeying toward India stands
for the individual journeying toward enlightenment. It also has much comedy, poetry and
word play.
Sites Cited
“Journey to the West.” Wikipedia. 27 Feb. 2007
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_West
Norton Anthology of World Literature
http://www.wwnorton.com/nawol/s16_overview.ht
m
"Wu Cheng'en." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007.
Britannica Concise
Encyclopedia. 27 Feb. 2007 <http://concise.britanni
ca.com/ebc/article-9382986/Wu-Chengen>.
Dr. Rearick’s Sites
• “Wu Ch'eng-en” Dr. Rearick’s Readers’ Corner at
MVNU. (26 Feb. 2008)
http://nzr.mvnu.edu/faculty/trearick/english/rearic
k/readings/authors/specific/Wu%20Ch'eng-en.htm
• “Journey into the West” Dr. Rearick’s Readers’
Corner at MVNU. (26 Feb. 2008)
http://nzr.mvnu.edu/faculty/trearick/english/rearic
k/readings/works/novel/monkey_journey_into_the
_west.htm